The Waste Land (A Game of Chess) - T.S. Eliot

The Waste Land: A Game of Chess (Part 2)

Category:

Education

Tags:

• t.s.
• eliot
• the
• waste
• land
• poetry

[stephaniehey]

is that eliot himself reading the poem?

[PedroAlonsoLopez]

Yes indeed it is.

[MoonbeamDreamer]

Notice how his voice changes, becomes quicker and more agitated, around line 111 ("'My nerves are bad tonight.'"). A lot of people attribute these lines to a person much like Vivien Eliot, his first wife, who was often ill and of a nervous disposition.

Sorry if anyone doesn't believe in indulging the biographical fallacy. Sometimes it has its place. :)

[Krahl123]

O, O, O, O that Shakespearian rag!

[rosalynrachel76]

@whiffleninny Elliot was American, he grew up in missouri

[whiffleninny]

Do I detect the slight american twang coming through from line 155? Interesting relationship there

[RussMoxham]

Just saw the thumbnail there at the side while watching another clip. 'The Wasteland' with THAT photo from the First World War. Good work.

[ciantisdall]

it's..a..reference..to..hamlet­..when..ophelia..says..goodnig­ht..to..everyone..before..goin­g..to.commit..suicide..

'goodnight..sweet..ladies'..is­..a.direct..quote

[AndreaMariana92]

Its Ophelia's last words in Shakespeare's Hamlet. It implies female suicide, as in the beginning of the poem when Eliot paraphrases Antony and Cleopatra who also kills herself. When the woman sitting by herself starts asking out loud "Why do you never speak?" she is talking to an nonexistent god who doesnt answer and will eventually kill herself after finding no relief- "would be savagely still". All women are one. Eliot criticizes modern sex for it brings no regeneration to the land or mankind.

[karlissocool]

It's a series of good-byes in relation to the characters in the poem.

The "Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night." line perhaps revokes the poets thought upon the situation, it shows a sort of emptiness too, whilst in a contradictory fashion, echoes a deeper meaning into Eliot's thoughts.

[wcjones451]

he is also imitating a low class dialog in a bar or pub...that explains many of the strange lines in this section

[Arrygoo]

tell me about it !

[t1racyjacks]

reference to hamlet, Act III, said by Ophelia before she commits suicide ---

OPHELIA

I hope all will be well. We must be patient: but I

/cannot choose but weep, to think they should lay him/ i' the cold ground. My brother shall know of it:/ and so I thank you for your good counsel. Come, my/ coach! Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies;/ good night, good night.